They believe that, as many progressive Guelphites worked hard to get her re-elected in 2006, after a fairly dysfunctional term under Mayor Quarrie, we should not only be happy to have her back, but keep quiet and remain supportive, regardless of the decisions her council and administration choose to make.

Unfortunately not everyone can do that, and, for that reason, are shunted off into the “backstabbing” group of the disaffected.

I count myself in that category even though I am as progressive as they come.

I call them the big decision items because they will have a huge effect on this city, for years to come. Progressive Guelphites choked over the previous council’s decision to support the Commercial Policy Review setting up four large shopping centre ‘nodes’ around the city. Yet, the Hanlon Expressway and Hanlon Creek Business Park decisions will have far more impact over the coming years.

Farbridge’s supporters may say that these are done deals; the Hanlon Expressway upgrades being ordained by the province through the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (colloquially known as the Ministry for Roads) and the Hanlon Creek Business Park (HCBP) by previous administrations.

That Farbridge chose to remain silent at the Guelph Civic League convened public meeting in March about Hanlon Creek at Norfolk Street United Church suggests that she may not be cut out for high office in Guelph. Instead of offering a few words of welcome she instead chose to sit at the back with body language suggesting that she really wished she was somewhere else entirely.

The fact that council barely emitted a whimper with respect to the assumptions underlying the provincial growth plan Places To Grow, and the need for Guelph to grow from 105,000 to a whopping 165,000 people by 2031 raises questions about a serious deficit of leadership at City Hall.

I went into the last municipal election in 2006 with high hopes that clearly haven’t been met. Farbridge is clearly strong on process (perhaps too strong?) but is she capable of taking the big decisions and making a stand.

I hope that if her re-election is successful she will turn back to her progressive roots and move in a truly sustainable direction. Enough of the spin and green-washing, please.

People need to consider what is best for Guelph for the next four years and beyond when they go to vote.

Mayor Farbridge may like the idea of being Guelph’s Hazel McCallion, but do we really have to look like Mississauga too?

Royal City Rag will continue to focus on what is important for the common good as we move forward with the election. We will not shy from bringing forward issues. Expect many more commentaries on the record of the current council and hopes for the next council as we move towards the election.

It was our great pleasure to welcome Frank Valeriote, MP for Guelph, back to Royal City Rag on February 27.

During a wide ranging conversation in the first hour, we talked about the resumation of parliamentary activities in Ottawa on March 3 after Stephen Harper’s self-serving prorogation, the upcoming budget (to be tabled by the government on March 4)and Frank’s own committee work in the agriculture and food sectors.

Its also appropriate to mention that their will be another awareness event in Guelph on March 2 with respect to the inappropriate use of prorogation to stifle parliamentary debate.

The Guelph chapters of the Council of Canadians and Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament and Guelph Participates are encouraging people to come out to Carden Street, in front of City Hall for the “Searchlight on Democracy Walk and Talk” at 7.00 p.m. for some short speeches, followed by a short candlelight procession to Norfolk St United Church for a discussion on how we can hold the government accountable for their actions and avoid such abuses in the future.

There was an excellent panel discussion on this issue on January 2. You can check out the audio from that event including Frank Valeriote’s speech here.

Searchlight on Democracy Walk and TalkWhen: Tuesday, March 2 at 7.00 p.m.
Where: City Hall – Guelph (1 Carden St.) and then to Norfolk Street United Church for presentations and a group discussion

We also had a chance to discuss the burgeoning contorversy concerning Canada’s financial aid for earthquake stricken Haiti. It seems that the aid the government is providing may be coming out of funds already earmarked for Haiti prior to the earthquake and not new funding at all. This situation needs to be watched very closely.

The Canada Haiti Action Network are screening the documentary Aristide and the Endless Revolution at the Bookshelf Cinema on Saturday March 6 at 1.00 p.m. This is a free event. A discussion about the current situation in Haiti, including financial aid from the Government of Canada, will occur after the screening.

Frank Valeriote can be contacted via his Gueph office, 40 Cork Street East, Guelph, N1H 2W8, 519-837-8276, 519-837-8443 or by e-mail to Valeriote.F@parl.gc.ca. While in Ottawa he may also be reached at Room 713 Confederation Building, House of Commons, Ottawa, K1A 0A6, 613-996-4758, 613-996-9922 (fax).

Royal City Rag will continue to follow the municipal scene closely, focusing on the community issues that we believe are important as we move towards the election. Expect to hear more commentaries on the record of the current council and our hopes for the next.

Later in the second hour we talked to Alli Russell from Po’Girl. Po’Girl are in Guelph on March 9 for a show at Dublin St United Church as part of their “No Shame” tour, highlighting the serious problem of child sexual abuse.

Russell is the survivor of ten years of sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather. She wrote the song “No Shame” in 2006 after her stepfather was released from prison . You can find it on their critically acclaimed album, Deer in the Night.

Hailing originally from Canada, Po’Girl weave a blend of musical influences, sweetness, grit & soul into a fresh and original sound. Their latest release, 2009’s Deer in the Night still includes many of the trappings of the trademark Po’ Girl sound – the echoes of speakeasy jazz, the western lament, the accordion-strapped ghosts of European folk – but it’s all delivered with a soulful clarity and depth only hinted at on previous records.

Music:
Johnny Cash, Redemption Day from American Recordings VI, Ain’t No Grave
Roseanne Cash, I’m Moving On from The List
Tony Bennett, Rags To Riches from Mob Life
Michael Buble, A Song For You from It’s time
Janis Ian, The Great Divide from Folk Is The New Black
Po’Girl, Bloom from Deer In The Night
Po’Girl, No Shame from Deer In The Night

Progressive thought and the people of Guelph were the big losers at City Hall last night.

The winners were surely the gravel companies, and the highway engineers who have a new freeway to build. Rumour has it will be the 406 from Niagara.

This new 400 series 100 km/h highway, thanks to the wisdom of the current council, will run directly through the city which will be very convenient for those of us who like to get down to wine country or visit the Shaw Festival during the summer.

Unfortunately I doubt it will do much for the citizens of Guelph or their quality of life.

It was a surreal evening in the spanking new council chambers with the current council doing their best impression of the last council.

All very un-Guelph and all very unsustainable.

The vast majority of council seemed far more interested in the fate of a service road between Stone and Kortight, than in the impact these highways upgrades will have on our community.

Councillor Laidlaw tried to inject some sanity into the proceedings by speaking with passion about the very real impact of peak oil. Unfortunately few if any were listening. Her words like great presentations from citizen delegates fell on deaf ears.

Councillor Piper suggested an amendment to get some short-term solutions implemented faster. Longer turning lanes and improved signalization, with the hope that if we can prove the Hanlon can work better, we can put off this indefinitely.

For the record, councillors Findlay, Laidlaw and Piper voted against it.

Let’s hope it never gets built. Not quite the legacy we want to leave our grandchildren.

A very frustrating night for the citizens present.

It all reminded me a bit of a line out of that over-played song by The Who, “Won’t Get Folded Again”.

Many people in Guelph are concerned about the serious environmental, health and social consequences of allowing the Hanlon to become a 400-series 100 km/hr highway that divides our city.

Despite an apparent high degree of public consultation by the MTO there are still many unanswered questions:

How much time will be saved for vehicles using the “improved” highway?

Is there not a danger of transferring the occasional bottleneck the Hanlon experiences in rush hour to another part of the highway network?

Could we not have found a much cheaper way to make the Hanlon a more efficient way to travel?

For instance, why weren’t other options (synchronized lights, longer turn lanes) seriously considered?And, could we be spending the city’s transportation dollars more effectively?

Finally, wouldn’t we be better to hold off on a final decision on the Hanlon until council sees the MTO proposals for upgrades from Wellington to Woodlawn?

With the City of Guelph looking at a bill of at least $16 million to make this a reality – a figure that is sure to balloon once the cost of service roads needed to maintain a certain level of livability for those close to the highway are factored into the equation, this decision is likely to be one of the most important, if not the most important, that the current council will face, especially when it may take 10-15 years to see all the upgrades completed.

Bearing in mind that all these “improvements” could be made at the same time as sky-rocketing gasoline prices make automobile travel less appealing, this could be seen to be seriously wrongheaded and highly irresponsible.

Needed – A Paradigm Shift
Joan AgostaThe MTO would have us believe that they have engaged in considerable public consultation leading to “important changes” to the plan to upgrade the Hanlon as a freeway. The recent City Staff report shares the MTO’s opinion, recommending that Council support their latest “Preferred Plan”. From their perspective, the main concerns of the citizens of this city have been addressed and considerable consensus has been reached. I strongly disagree.

Since November 2007, I, along with numerous other citizens, have spent hundreds of hours speaking with concerned citizens, attending meetings, facilitating the signing of petitions, carrying out research, and sharing information regarding the Hanlon. I also participated in the MTO facilitated workshops. This tightly controlled process ignored the fundamental objections to an expressway in the city and choose to address mainly the “not in my backyard” concerns. The arguments pointing out that the upgrades are not only wrong but irresponsible, have, by and large, been relegated to an afterthought (oh, by the way, a few citizens raised concerns about the impact on air and water quality, flooding, the ultimate necessity for a freeway).

Upgrading the Hanlon to an expressway would be irresponsible:

1. We are 40 years too late. The Hanlon was conceived in 1969; Guelph’s population was half what it is today with little or no housing in the surrounding area. Both the City and the Province have allowed the adjacent area to be developed. Today the Hanlon backs right up into homes. There are five schools in close proximity to the College and Stone interchanges, and two day care centres: St. Rene Goupil and The YMCA/YWCA.

2. Expressways and people don’t mix. City staff pretend that air quality will improve with the upgrades, less stop and go traffic. With an increase of traffic on the Hanlon of up to 50,000 vehicles per day, there will be an associated increase in noise and air pollutants from exhaust emissions. The Ontario government is studying a massive expansion of the transportation network in the Golden Horseshoe over the next 20 years. Will Guelph’s Hanlon become a convenient North-South bypass to the 401, 407 and 403?

3. Poor air quality is killing us. According to a 2005 study carried out by The Ontario Medical Association, air pollution caused an estimated 5,800 premature deaths, almost 17,000 hospital admissions and almost 60,000 Ontarians to visit hospital emergency rooms. We know how devastating poor air quality is to our health, especially for those living near highways. Children growing to adulthood within 500 meters of a freeway were at the greatest risk.The adverse health impacts in Ontario each year from trans-boundary air pollution include more than 2,700 premature deaths, almost 12,000 hospital admissions, and almost 14,000 emergency room visits. The OMA report estimates the cost of air pollution to the economy of Ontario at $16 B per year!

4. Ontario acceptable noise levels are too high for our health. A University of Guelph report compares permitted maximum Residential noise levels in Canada (55 dB) with other countries and, most importantly, the World Health Organization (45 dB). Acoustic walls are fettered with problems and can actually increase noise or deflect the noise to other areas in the community. The MTO has their own standards for noise levels: levels are negotiated with the Ministry of the Environment. During PIC #2, an MTO representative commented that if we lived along the QEW in Toronto the levels would be around 80 or 85 so these really weren’t so bad.

5. We need a paradigm shift in the way we think about transportation. At an emergency summit in Copenhagen last week, scientist issued a desperate plea for world leaders to curb green house gas emissions or face an ecological and social disaster (the Guardian, March 20-26, 2009). We need to put the environment in the forefront of every decision we make. Building expressways is not sustainable. Todd Litman from the Victoria Transport Policy Institute in B.C. in ReInventing Transportation states: Sustainability requires more efficient, equitable and environmentally sensitive transport. This cannot be achieved simply by improving the efficiency of vehicle designs or traffic management. It requires changes in the way we think about transportation, and how we identify and evaluate solutions to transport problems. Transport planners often treat vehicle movement as an end in itself. Sustainable transportation planning focuses on access,which can often be improved with strategies that reduce the need to travel altogether. (http://www.vtpi.org/reinvent.pdf)

Many of us are making the connection between the devastation of the environment, the economic crisis with huge job losses, and the choices we make on a day to day basis. We are trying to reduce our footprint on the environment, repair damage done in the past and, in general, make responsible decisions in view of the legacy we are leaving to our children. Expressways are not part of that legacy.

The High Cost of ConvenienceThe on-again, off-again plans to turn the Hanlon into a freeway are on again and the plan is crazyGuelph MercuryMarch 18, 2009
Ben Bennett

Many years ago, there was this thing called crazy paving.

It was different shaped pieces of stone that you used to make a garden path. It was durable; it allowed water to penetrate and it was visually pleasing.

In 2009 we have another version of crazy paving. It needs repairing all the time; it does not allow water to penetrate and it looks like hell. It has been very handy though in moving us and things around with relative convenience.

While the cost to maintain this crazy paving is huge, we don’t actually see the invoices as they are buried in our provincial and local tax bills. And gas is cheap.

The cost to make new crazy paving is so high that if we each got invoices for the per-person cost in our mailboxes we would probably take to the streets. But they, too, are buried in our provincial and local tax bills, and while we invariably complain about the high taxes we pay, we don’t seem to make the connection. And gas is cheap.

Since the early 1960s, there has been a plan on the books to convert the wistfully-named Hanlon Expressway into a fully-fledged 400-series freeway. Given the cost and its questionable strategic value to the province’s road system, not much happened for more than 30 years. The plans, along with many others, gathered dust on an engineer’s desk at the Ministry of Transportation’s branch in London.

Then, miraculously, in the mid-1990s, they found their way to the top of the pile.

It’s not clear if there was a change in priorities or if a harried office cleaner accidentally knocked the pile to the floor and hurriedly put the plans back, but in a different order.

Either way, at a time when Mike Harris’s budget cuts were closing hospitals, someone found the money to spend what ended up being $30 million on an overpass at the Hanlon’s halfway point. And there sat the overpass, all dressed up and freeway ready, with nothing but regular highways feedings its four corners.

After a few years, someone else in London noticed there wasn’t actually an approval in place for the Highway 7 freeway plan. Over the next several years, the engineers went back and forth to the drawing board to come up with a design they could sell to the area councils.

The previous council in Guelph signed off, comforted, one assumes, by the fact that the cost would come from provincial taxes, not local taxes.

That cost would be about $20,000 per driver for the people who actually use the highway and suffer the iniquity of occasional five-to-10 minute delays in the rush hour.

But spread out among the province’s 12 million population, the half a billion dollars cost looks a little easier to bear, even if they are projecting a $10-billion deficit this year.

It appears the error-prone office cleaner is still working in London, because in the past couple of years, the engineers have been working on a design for the Hanlon south of Wellington Street that won’t upset too many neighbours.

It calls for a six-lane freeway, a service road, the destruction of a stand of mature trees that were planted as a buffer against the original road, and their replacement by a 15-foot wall at the edge of the nearby residents’ property.

And among other things, it calls for the removal of the intersection at College Avenue.

We will be devoting the whole of Royal City Rag on April 22 to the proposed “improvements” to the Hanlon Expressway. The MTO has come up with their “preferred plan”. The matter is now coming to City Council for approval on Monday, April 27.

David Graham and Dave Sills will be joining us in the studio to discuss a project that many believe is too late, too extensive and too expensive in these uncertain economic times. A 100 km/hr 400-series urban highway that will not only effectively split our city in two, but also comes with unpredictable social, heath and environmental consequences.

Yet there are still many unanswered questions:

How much time will be saved on the average commute?

Is there not a danger of transferring the occasional bottleneck the Hanlon experiences in rush hour to another part of the highway network?

Could we not have found a much cheaper way to make the Hanlon a more efficient way to travel?

For instance, why weren’t other options (synchronized lights, longer turn lanes) considered?And, could we be spending the city’s transportation dollars more effectively?

Finally, wouldn’t we be better to hold off on a final decision on the Hanlon until council sees the MTO proposals for upgrades from Wellington to Woodlawn?

This is likely to be the most important decision that we will take. A decision that will have far reaching consequences, especially when you consider that the upgrades may take 10-15 years to complete.

Bearing in mind that all these “improvements” could be made at the same time as sky-rocketing gasoline prices make automobile travel less appealing, this could be seen to be seriously wrongheaded and highly irresponsible.

Will this be the legacy of the current council?

Promises to be a great discussion. Join us Wednesday, 6-7 p.m. on CFRU93.3fm, Guelph’s Campus Community radio station. Get informed and get engaged. Your city needs you!

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The views express on this site are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of CFRU 93.3fm Radio Gryphon, www.cfru.ca. RoyalCityRag.ca is not responsible for the content or views expressed on external sites.